I am writing this blog to fulfill a dream of mine – to make this world a better place for everyone to live in… What I can contribute to the world or to this era of history maybe be too trivial to mention but I believe if everyone puts in his utmost efforts, together we could make a difference.
Back in March of this year, I bought a book in Taiwan by Amy Cheung Siu Han (Zhang Xiao Xian). She is a rather famous Chinese author of love stories and short articles. I have not read any love stories for the past twenty years so it was a refreshing reading for me. I lost that book on the airplane while I traveled to Hong Kong. After reading that book, a thought came to my mind – if Amy can write love stories I can write about human nature too, after all Buddhism and life are in relation to human nature.
My setback is that I am not much of a writer; I have no talent or training on literature or journalism. I believe in learning, so I am writing this blog to train myself such that some day in the future I may be good enough to be a writer. This is one of the apparent reasons I write this blog.
The other reason is my love of Huayen or Life. Personally, I have benefited a great deal from the study of the Huayen Sutra and from the teaching of Venerable Haiyun Jimeng. Since the launching of this blog, I have to put in extra efforts on understanding and practicing Huayen, which in turns deepen my learning.
Mingte Shi Xiong wrote to me that he was impressed with the advancement on my insights and my progression was a big encouragement to him on his Bodhi Path. Betty found my blog inspiring. Through this blog, I get to know Jason Shi Xiong. As time progress, I wish more of us with the same vision and love of life can be connected together to bring out the best in each of us.
Thirdly, I am treating his blog as my cultivation means, to record and witness my small realization on the Bodhi Path.
Thank you all who drop by to read this blog when you have time. For those of you who gave me comments and feedbacks, you are my beloved benevolent Dharma friends. Any suggestions or ideas to improve this blog or my understanding of Buddhism are very much appreciated.
With unfathomable gratitude
Lung Zhi
(July 10, 2008)
Showing posts with label Huayen learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Huayen learning. Show all posts
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Heart Sutra Empowerment
Last weekend my friend and I went to a two-day “Heart Sutra Empowerment”- Tibetan tradition. I totally enjoyed this event.
The best part of the Empowerment was the chanting in Tibetan. There were seven Tibetan monks with two of them being Rinpoches. During the chanting, there was extensive use of Tibetan musical instruments like drums, trumpets, horns and the like. I loved the chanting. The whole experience was divine. I was all charged up and refreshed. When my other friends meditated with me the next day, they were stunned by my energy level and wondered what I had done on the weekend.
I did not know about the empowerment until three days beforehand. However I had turned down two other appointments for that weekend weeks before, as I was very behind with my paper works. The empowerment came along as a very pleasant surprise.
Venerable Haiyun Jimeng always taught us the following principle: “All a practitioner needs to do is to be completely devoted to the cultivation and the Dharma Protectors (Life’s incidents/happenings) will take care of the rest for him or her.” That is exactly what I am trying to comply or try out. So far so good.
I am having a very good life right now. Do not know how long that will last. But how long it will last is my least worry as I am enjoying every moment of it…
(July 8, 2008)
The best part of the Empowerment was the chanting in Tibetan. There were seven Tibetan monks with two of them being Rinpoches. During the chanting, there was extensive use of Tibetan musical instruments like drums, trumpets, horns and the like. I loved the chanting. The whole experience was divine. I was all charged up and refreshed. When my other friends meditated with me the next day, they were stunned by my energy level and wondered what I had done on the weekend.
I did not know about the empowerment until three days beforehand. However I had turned down two other appointments for that weekend weeks before, as I was very behind with my paper works. The empowerment came along as a very pleasant surprise.
Venerable Haiyun Jimeng always taught us the following principle: “All a practitioner needs to do is to be completely devoted to the cultivation and the Dharma Protectors (Life’s incidents/happenings) will take care of the rest for him or her.” That is exactly what I am trying to comply or try out. So far so good.
I am having a very good life right now. Do not know how long that will last. But how long it will last is my least worry as I am enjoying every moment of it…
(July 8, 2008)
Monday, June 23, 2008
Making life interesting
My husband is amazed by how much I can write on this blog. He was afraid that I would run out of topics. He suggested that I should watch more television, read more newspapers so as to keep myself up to date with the world news, and to expose myself to more themes.
What he does not know is that, as long as I have wandering thoughts, I get things to write about. Instead of running through my mind, the thoughts are now on black and white. Millions of thoughts arise in a split second, I am just not able enough to capture them in time to write it down.
Cultivation is marvelous; you can apply your practice in anything and everything you do, to make life so much more interesting.
(June 23, 2008)
What he does not know is that, as long as I have wandering thoughts, I get things to write about. Instead of running through my mind, the thoughts are now on black and white. Millions of thoughts arise in a split second, I am just not able enough to capture them in time to write it down.
Cultivation is marvelous; you can apply your practice in anything and everything you do, to make life so much more interesting.
(June 23, 2008)
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Quest for the Truth
Few days ago, our Introductory Buddhism Class resumed after three months of disruption.
The class was formed out of unexpected incident and stopped unforeseeably, as everything in life impermanence took precedence. In order to finish off studying the book, we resumed the class.
When the class commenced, it served many proposes: to introduce Buddhism to beginners, to attract more members, to carry out activities as an organization, to socialize after class and so on… There were expectations and pressures.
The class resumed without purpose, maybe just for the sake of questing for the Truth together. So there is much at ease on my part. I am there just to share my understanding of Buddhism to the classmates. And the classmates are there not because of my title, status, knowledge and expertise, all of which I have none. People attend because we like learning Buddhism together. That is great enough for me, hopefully for them too.
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, may the hills that we climbed alleviate us towards enlightenment!
(June 21, 2008)
The class was formed out of unexpected incident and stopped unforeseeably, as everything in life impermanence took precedence. In order to finish off studying the book, we resumed the class.
When the class commenced, it served many proposes: to introduce Buddhism to beginners, to attract more members, to carry out activities as an organization, to socialize after class and so on… There were expectations and pressures.
The class resumed without purpose, maybe just for the sake of questing for the Truth together. So there is much at ease on my part. I am there just to share my understanding of Buddhism to the classmates. And the classmates are there not because of my title, status, knowledge and expertise, all of which I have none. People attend because we like learning Buddhism together. That is great enough for me, hopefully for them too.
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, may the hills that we climbed alleviate us towards enlightenment!
(June 21, 2008)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Profound Learning versus Elementary Learning
According to Master Haiyun, profound learning is the know-how that deals with humanity and life, whereas elementary learning is the know-how that is outside that boundary.
Einstein’s law of relativity, Newton’s law of gravity, the invention of electricity and nuclear power, they are elementary learning（小學）. These are knowledges and theories of physic（物理）. These knowledges enhace our quality of living.
Whereas, the value and meaning of life, the truth of existence, the purpose of living, and all aspects that deals with the betterment of humanity; these knowledges enhance our quality of life and touch upon the Truth（真理）. They are profound learning（大學）.
And the three basic domains of profound learning are:
1. Washing and cleaning （灑掃）- how to take care of daily living
2. Answering readily（應對）- how to deal with interpersonal relationship
3. Advancing and retreating （進退）- how to react appropriately
I have heard about these three basic domains from Master Haiyun (HeShang) years ago. It is only recently that I started to have a glimpse of its deeper meaning.
Einstein’s law of relativity, Newton’s law of gravity, the invention of electricity and nuclear power, they are elementary learning（小學）. These are knowledges and theories of physic（物理）. These knowledges enhace our quality of living.
Whereas, the value and meaning of life, the truth of existence, the purpose of living, and all aspects that deals with the betterment of humanity; these knowledges enhance our quality of life and touch upon the Truth（真理）. They are profound learning（大學）.
And the three basic domains of profound learning are:
1. Washing and cleaning （灑掃）- how to take care of daily living
2. Answering readily（應對）- how to deal with interpersonal relationship
3. Advancing and retreating （進退）- how to react appropriately
I have heard about these three basic domains from Master Haiyun (HeShang) years ago. It is only recently that I started to have a glimpse of its deeper meaning.
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